A Northern Cheyenne Free Spirit

            There’s this Northern Cheyenne guy who is doing something unusual for this day and age, but on the other hand not at all unusual for our people of yester yore.  Arlee Harris, a somewhat removed cousin of mine is living out in the woods in a camp, by himself except for his many critter friends.  This deserves a column.

Arlee has always been an independent free spirit, literally making his living off the land.  I remember him best as a wood vendor and a very good one at that.  Folks could always rely upon Arlee and he ever prioritized the elders and those were completely out of wood. Once for example, he delivered a load of wood to me when it was plumb dark freezing cold.  He didn’t have to do that but knew I needed it.

As a tribal member, it is possible to get a permit from the tribal forestry department to harvest dry trees for firewood which he did.  However, being a firewood vendor involves an incredible amount of work and most important a reliable 4-wheel drive vehicle and equipment such as chainsaws.

When the work begins:  find a dead tree or trees (usually quite remote and off the beaten trail); cut down the trees into blocks; load and haul them to a central location to be split into useable chunks, then reload the wood again for delivery, unload and stack the wood to the customer’s satisfaction.  All during this time, it was necessary to keep the wood dry.

But eventually Arlee ran out of pickups.  That’s when he took to bicycles. Still, he ventured into the woods to pick plums, a hot commodity for those too busy or lazy to go picking themselves.  He also ventures onto the prairie to collect and market sage and antler collecting is another good land survival tactic.

At some point, Arlee tried life off the reservation venturing to Seattle, but that didn’t appeal too much to a country boy like him.

Back home, tragedy struck.  Arlee was attached by a gang of younger boys in Lame Deer who beat him horribly and stole his bike.   A kind tribal member (I know who it was, but that person wouldn’t want his name mentioned) got him a new bike.

But by then, Arlee had had it with town living especially due to the housing shortage.  So, he made himself a camp out in the tribal mountains, living by himself and his many critter friends, deer, racoons, squirrels, eagles and other birds.  Whenever he gets to town, about a seven mile walk each way, despite a bum knee or snowshoeing when the snow gets really deep, he makes posts often on Facebook showing photos of his camp which is very tidy and organized and many critter friends.  His main concession to the modern world seems to be a cell phone, useable only in town as there is no signal in remote reservation areas.

Food seems to be a big deal as it was to our ancestors.  They spent most of their time hunting it, processing it or collecting it from the land.  Imagine carting groceries all that way through country which is not bike friendly, especially in the winter.  He often features his concoctions on Facebook, often some type of dry meat or commodities.  On Christmas and Easter, he made some treats for children saying they were from a “Spirit Helper”.

This isn’t an easy way to go, especially in the winter when just keeping warm would be a full-time occupation.  It also takes a special and strong person to enjoy and thrive in solitude, relying on his critter friends for company.  Yet, Arlee seems to have accomplished this as evidenced by his Facebook posts which are ever cheerful and encouraging.

He kind of reminds me of some of the Alaskan bush people I met – resourceful, able and willing to deal with the elements and appreciating the simple things in life. A person like that develops a natural integrity, falling in tune with natural surroundings and developing the ability to appreciate silence and quiet.  That is when you find out if you are comfortable in your own skin and basically like yourself.

Arlee would have been a good pioneer and a good old-time Indian.  As it is, he is a stellar modern-day Indian who reminds us of the simple and wonderous things in life.

(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com)

 

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